Brady: Bury the death tax once and for always

Community Reports

Published 8:06 pm, Sunday, March 8, 2015

U.S. Representatives Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Sanford Bishop (D-Georgia), who are leading the charge to repeal the controversial federal estate tax, this week introduced the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015.

“The Death Tax is still the number one reason family-owned farms and businesses in America aren’t passed down to the next generation,” said Brady, a senior member of the tax-writing Ways & Means Committee. “It’s the wrong tax at the wrong time and hurts the wrong people. After a family loses a loved one, why should Uncle Sam swoop in and take much of the nest egg they spent a lifetime building? Especially when it forces the survivors to sell their land or business just to try to keep what they worked so hard to earn.”

Bishop points out the fastest growing sector of the American economy are women and minority owned small businesses building wealth for the first time.

“I have heard from farmers, funeral home owners, newspaper publishers, radio station owners, and garment manufacturers about the need for estate tax relief. I believe that the estate tax is politically misguided, morally unjustified and downright un-American,” said Bishop. “It undermines the life work and the life savings of farmers and small- and medium-sized businesses in Georgia and across the nation.”

A study by the Joint Economic Committee reports the onerous estate tax hurts economic growth by discouraging savings and small business growth. Many studies have indicated that ending the estate tax would actually increase overall federal tax revenue by encouraging more investment.

“Taking out loans for Uncle Sam while trying to keep a family farm or ranch afloat is wrong,” added Brady. “I have families in my district that have paid this tax multiple times on the same property. They deserve better.”